Wave properties in the magnetic reconnection diffusion region with high β: Application of the k-filtering method to Cluster multispacecraft data
Sahraoui, F.; Deng, X. H.; Wang, J. F.; Huang, S. Y.; Yuan, Z. G.; Zhou, M.; Pang, Y.; Zhou, X. M.; Wei, Q.
China, United States, France
Abstract
Magnetic reconnection is a crucial physical process in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas. Plasma waves are believed to provide the dissipation mechanism in magnetic reconnection. In this paper we analyze the properties of low-frequency waves in a magnetotail reconnection diffusion region with a small guide field and high β. Using the k-filtering method on the magnetic field data measured by Cluster spacecraft, we found that low-frequency waves in the diffusion region were highly oblique propagating mode. We compared the measured dispersion relation with theoretical ones calculated using the linear (hot) two-fluid and Vlasov-Maxwell theory. It is found that the observed waves in the diffusion region (with high plasma β) follow the dispersion relation of the Alfvén-Whistler wave mode. Comparisons with previous simulations and observational results are also discussed.